Then I watched The Nutty Professor which I felt also did not age well. Something about The Bellboy just didn’t capture that essence and a lot of the comedy fell flat.
But then I thought back to other silent classics like Modern Times and City Lights by Charlie Chaplin that got slapstick and situational humor right and was absolutely hilarious. A lot of the jokes were just “look at how goofy Stanley is, look at the funny face he is making, isn’t that weird.” I felt like maybe I am just in a different generation and we think different things are funnier. I would find myself watching a 5-minute segment with one long wind up and then nothing funny happening at the end to make the segment worthwhile. Each skit felt like it was all setup and no payoff.
It was segmented into small skits that had nothing to do with the previous besides the aloof main character Stanley, a supposed mute bellboy. The film contained mostly physical comedy as it was modeled after the silent films of the previous generation. The intro is a disclaimer that states that the movie you are about to watch has no plot and is entirely about a bellboy who finds himself in zany circumstances and is “really funny.” Only half of that disclaimer was true. I began with The Bellboy which was touted as Jerry Lewis’ most iconic role (he even plays himself at one point). Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed. As a huge fan of comedy, I was very excited to watch these films and partake in comedy history. This collection was my first exposure to comedy legend Jerry Lewis’ work and I had only heard about him from his notoriety as a, let’s say “difficult,” interviewee. This collection includes 10 of his most memorable performances and over 90 minutes of bloopers and deleted scenes. Starting as a stage comic, he quickly moved to film and made over 60 movies from 1949 to 2016. He rose to stardom with his partner Dean Martin until eventually they both parted ways and continued to have extremely successful solo careers. Jerry Lewis was a celebrated comedian known for his slapstick humor and over the top performances.
0 kommentar(er)
